Tuesday, December 16, 2014

A-England Queen of Scots

Queen of Scots was released by British indie polish maker A-England as part of the Elizabeth and Mary collection in August this year, and refers to Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland. It is a rare true deep but intense royal blue with tone-on-tone shimmers that provide a silky, semi-metallic finish with the lit-from-within quality so highly prized by polish enthusiasts. It's the dark blue cousin to Adina's wonderful red shimmer, Perceval. Application was a little disconcerting, due in part to my apprehension in the face of such a deeply pigmented dark blue shimmer and also to an unusual heaviness in the formula. The consistency of Queen of Scots is fluid but very dense, almost thick, with a reluctance to be manipulated. It has a creamy glide over the nail, however, leaves no brushstrokes and self-levels beautifully. Pigmentation is outstanding with completely even, opaque coverage achievable in one coat. I used two to cover some messiness left after the first coat. Cleanup can be difficult. As with any polish as well-pigmented as this one is, the pigment will run when acetone hits it. Add to that the intense blue color and you're in line for some staining to cuticles and skin if you're not careful. As careful as I try to be, it wasn't enough to avoid creating a blue cast to some of my nail environs. Queen of Scots dries naturally in average time to a smooth shiny finish. Photos show two coats of Queen of Scots over treatment and basecoat with a somewhat bubbly topcoat of Seche Vite.

A-England Queen of Scots

A-England Queen of Scots

A-England Queen of Scots

A-England Queen of Scots

A-England Queen of Scots

A-England Queen of Scots

A-England Queen of Scots

A-England Queen of Scots

A-England Queen of Scots

A-England Queen of Scots

Inky and mysterious in low light, the true color of this polish is best seen in direct or bright indirect light around the axis of light where the reflection is. That is where the shimmers come into play, otherwise they are only subtly present. I believe this rich, regal blue was chosen by Adina both as a reference to Mary's heraldry and coat of arms and to her tumultuous and ultimately tragic royal life.

Mary Queen of Scots after Portrait by Zuccaro (source). This is one of my favorite portraits of Mary -- I love this dress.

This is another angle of the three-dimensional, computer-generated image of Mary included in my post featuring A-England Fotheringhay Castle, created in Scotland by the Forensic and Medical Art Research Group. It is a virtual scupture of the face of Mary, Queen of Scots made with craniofacial templates based on how she would have looked during her time in Scotland as queen. Using existing portraits, an incomplete biography and 3D-modeling
software for the head-and-neck model, clothing and hair were sculpted onto the depiction, which aims to resemble
Mary between the ages of 19 and 26. (source)

The queen’s father, King James V, died days after her birth in 1542, leaving
Scotland under the rule of regents during her early years as she left for
France at the age of five. Her return as a widow fourteen years later
was to a country beset by religious furore. Mary's time as queen in Scotland was difficult, marked with illness, grief, miscarriage, and imprisonment. Despite later attempting to
regain the throne, her swift abdication after an uprising following her third marriage to James Hepburn in 1567 gave her infant son, James, power. She fled to England seeking the protection of her first cousin once removed, Elizabeth I. Perceiving her as a threat, Elizabeth had her confined in various
castles and manor houses in the interior of England. After eighteen and a
half years in custody, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate
Elizabeth, and was subsequently executed in Fotheringhay Castle.